Rendezvous mit dem Tod

"Golden Rensezvous" looks and sounds a lot like a TV movie, but the one thing that is quite un-TV-like about it, at least for its era, is the amount of violence it contains: lots of bloody squibs, stabbings, even a massacre of innocent people. The film is also notable for its similarities to "Die Hard", which came out a decade later: terrorists and hostages in a confined space (this time, a ship), and one resourceful hero who has to fight them from the inside. Of course you have to ignore the various implausibilities, like the astonishingly easy way in which the bad guys smuggle themselves AND a bomb inside the ship. Unfortunately, Richard Harris, who is usually an excellent actor (check out the same year's "Orca" for an example), seems to be operating on autopilot here, except when he's in action. Ann Turkel is decorative most of the way, until she picks up a machine gun near the very end. There are some other big names in the cast, but most of them are almost completely wasted. The movie gets a passing grade, but you can see why it is largely forgotten today. ** out of 4.

"Golden Rendezvous" is an utter mess of a movie. On the screen, for sure, but allegedly even more so behind the scenes. Lead star and notorious troublemaker Richard Harris was drinking heavily on set, fired fellow actors (including the almighty Christopher Lee), and independently decided to rewrite the scenario and consequently delaying the filming schedule. Not that the scenario couldn't use a couple of good rewrites, though. It's an adaptation of an Alistair MacLean novel and, in my humble opinion, he was one of the most overrated blockbuster authors in history.

We're aboard of the Caribbean Star; - a former cargo ship rebuilt into a cruise ship. Well, actually, it's not much more than a ramshackle and floating casino full of miserable old gamblers. One of them is a terrorist and he brings a lot of heavily armed men on board. The hijackers aren't interested in the tourist passengers (and who can blame them) and want to trade their lives against a shipment of gold on another ship. However, First Officer John Carter sees his chance to become a hero.

The most positive thing I can write about "Golden Rendezvous" is that it's extremely violent. The shootouts, notably in the casino when the terrorists enter, are bloody and explicit. Apart from the blood-red highlights, the film is dull and uninspired. Initially I hoped it would be a sort of glorious and flamboyant disaster movie, like there were many during the 70s decade, but it's a caper/heist flick that never really kickstarts. There are many great names in the supportive cast, but they are all wasted. Burgess Meredith and John Carradine depict insignificant old gamblers, and David Janssen's character does nothing but boozing vodka. I assume his assignment was to do in front of the camera what lead star Richard Harris was doing behind the scenes.

Action-packed suspense thriller finds innocuous-looking purser Carter (Harris) the unlikely hero when the floating casino on which he works is hijacked by a heavily armed group of mercenaries, led by John Vernon, the pirates en route to a rendezvous with another ocean liner, loaded with gold bullion. A cast full of supernovas, dazzling set & stunt work, and a catchy theme tune by Jeff Wayne create a pleasing audio-visual experience light on logic but fast paced and entertaining nonetheless.

While Harris clearly has centre stage, Jackson, Vernon and Meredith benefit from key supporting roles in this somewhat bloody thriller. Vernon in particular, is sadistically ruthless and calculated as a business-like assassin, cool, methodical and neither fooled nor intimidated by Harris' faux bravado. Turkel (Mrs Harris at the time) affects inane dialogue without displaying much acting talent, while capable cast including Janssen, former leading lady Malone, Beatty and horror maestro Carradine are wasted in frivolous supporting roles that look as though they were edited down to virtual bit parts in post production; in point of fact, some key plot development is conspicuously absent, and the narrative can at times, lack cohesion.

But in spite of the obvious flaws, this remains an easy viewing nonsense, with an attractive international cast, pulsating sound and plenty of graphic action - the scene in which the mercenaries first rappel through the casino windows is sure to catch a few off guard, and sets the tone for the remainder of the movie. Not the best translation of an Alistair MacLeanthriller, gratuitously violent (lots of claret), and yet somehow, irresistibly entertaining.

On a cargo ship converted into a cruise-liner, First Officer John Carter foils the plan of international hijackers to use his vessel as bait for a passing U. S. Treasury ship carrying gold bullion.

The Golden Rendezvous, an adaptation of Maclean's superb novel, stars Richard Harris as the heroic captain, performing some derring-do when "injured" and trying to stop the smugglers from setting off a nuclear bomb and running off with a gold bullion. Harris is ably supported by a star cast - David Jensen, Dorothy Malone, Gordon Jackson, Burgess Meredith, John Caradine, Ann Turkel and John Vernon, who adds a touch of menace to the proceeding as the gun-toting villain.

Of course, it doesn't match the book, which was supremely suspenseful with derring-do and a tinge of Agatha Christie, but it's still an enjoyable film, which, unlike Caravan to Vacarres, atleast follows the book's general plot outline. Emphasis here is on action, bloody squibs and the action is rousing - especially the scene where our hero goes over the side with a rope. What was needed was a more buildup of suspense in the first 30 minutes, and sharper dialogue.

I had fond memories watching this on LWT ( UK TV) in 1982 and definitely lapped it up.

Alistair Mc Lean was definitely the true and authentic DNA provider of the action action packed movies huge, gruesome wave that we saw in the nineties and till the late twenties, and which many folks told it was all DIE HARD rip offs. You also had Walter Wager - whose 58 MINUTES inspired DIE HARD 2 - and Colin Forbes, who gave us tremendous novels about terrorists and spies, action thrillers that riveted you to your sofa. Well all those stories were not always top but worth though. This one is not the worst, far from that. Worth and not the worst. And I would add that film takes advantage of the disaster movie 'fashion" of the seventies to mix it up with the scheme of terrorists and hostages. One last thing, no one seems to have noticed that Dick Harris gives here a performance very close to the one he pulled in another sea thriller, about another terrorist plot, the terrific JUGGERNAUT, where he faced David Hemmings.